I have been saying for years that gnomes are jerks, and nobody ever listened to me. Well, the jokes on you, suckers! Because now the gnomes are invading the kingdom and I totally called it. You're not going to get any help from me, but maybe if you're lucky, a dashing hero will come along to save you. Or, um. Larry. Larry and the Gnomes is a side-scrollinghack-and-slasher from Jazza Studios with a lot of weapons, a lot of production value, and a lot of severed body parts.

Larry is by default controlled with the [arrow] keys, using [S] to attack, and [spacebar] to jump. These and other actions, however, are completely customiseable via the options menu. Larry doesn't gain experience or level up, so how well he does is all down to you; keep an eye on his health (the red bar) because if it depletes entirely, you'll have to start your current stage from the beginning. Every time Larry does damage, he gains rage (the orange bar), and when he has enough of it he can unleash it with [W] to become temporarily invincible and dish out more damage. Enemies drop their weapons upon death, so it's important to keep an eye out to "trade up", since Larry can pick up and use any weapon he finds. Some are more useful (and varied) than others, and you can tell how powerful something is by the number that displays in the upper right whenever you pick a new weapon up. In typical fantasy fashion, bigger is better, so drop that stick and find yourself a scythe!

Making your progress even more difficult is the fact that the kingdom is what one might charitably call a "deathtrap"; the farther you go, the more you'll find the environments are littered with increasingly painful and deadly obstacles. So not only do you have to fight teleporting wizards, you have to do it while leaping forward and back over dense patches of painful cacti. Swell. Every several stages, Larry will have to fight a boss, and some of them require more strategy than others. Just keep moving, keep swinging, and keep bashing open crates to look for healing orbs and sweet, sweet treasure.

Analysis: Larry and the Gnomes is a game that received rather a lot of hype leading up to its release, complete with the advent of several bonus minigames to promote it. With that sort of chutzpah, a game is under a lot of pressure to deliver. And, fortunately, Larry does... mostly. The game is clearly a labor of love, and it was worth it, because Larry looks (and sounds) fantastic, with expressive little characters and a big, epic soundtrack that wouldn't be out of place in a commercial release. The humor can be a bit hit-and-miss, and there are times when Larry himself doesn't feel as responsive as you might like, but for the most part the whole package works very well. Every stage adds new challenges and gradually ramps up the action so that the whole difficulty progression feels very natural, and by the last few levels you'll be handling yourself like a pro. My biggest issue with the game is that navigating the terrain can be a bit of a challenge, since it can be difficult to judge distances and your point on the plane in relation to obstacles or enemies.

The problem is that for the first few stages, Larry and the Gnomes doesn't do much to disabuse you of the notion that you're standard sidescrolling hack-and-slasher with a few Newgrounds community in-jokes thrown in, and a few pages taken from Double Edged. It isn't until later stages that the game gets a bit more complex, introducing things like swinging vines, spinning blade traps, and so forth. While most enemies can simply be fought off by smashing the attack key and knowing when to back off, you'll have to incorporate some strategy before too long, since just standing in one spot and slashing like a maroon is a good way to get yourself dead.

Larry and the Gnomes is a mostly likable game, with a lot to recommend it to fans of the genre, and little to put them off. It also represents an enormous achievement for everyone who was involved in its creation. Aside from its considerable presentation, it probably won't do much to win you over if you're not already an action fan, but for those of us who enjoy a little simple carnage, Larry will soon feel like an old friend. Plus you'll be able to say you made it through the great Gnome War of 2010. There's something for you to tell your grandkids about over and over and over.

First of all, slash at the bushes on the sides of the screen to get health items. Pick up his spears and throw them at him while you are enraged. When he is stunned, pick up your original weapon and slash him. When he gets ready to stomp, jump attack. Rinse and repeat until he's dead.

Pick up the spears he throws at you; he throws spears when you are already out of the path of his charge. (In other words, wait in the middle of the screen, and then run to the top or bottom as soon as you hear him start to charge.) Stand in the middle of the screen, and when he charges at you, throw the spear to stun him. (You have to be standing level with him for the spear to hit.) Then, while he's stunned, run up and start whacking him. When the boar rears up, move back quickly and make sure you're jumping when the boar comes down or you'll take damage. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Other tips: The bushes on either side of the battlefield can drop healing orbs if you hit them enough.
Use Rage to deal more damage.
Wait until he's close to throw the spear; the stun doesn't last, and you don't want to waste time running over.
It will take a long time to kill him with just your fists; make sure you entered the fight with a weapon, and just swap it for a spear when necessary. Try to stand near your dropped weapon when you throw your spear so you can grab it right away and run in swinging.

It's a great game in many ways, but I think there is one flaw:
You can't go back and change to another weapon, when you die in a boss-fight. So you're stuck with whatever weapon you got. So some of the boss-fights kan become needlessly difficult, and you have no choice but to keep trying with the same bad weapon each time (or fists).

I really enjoyed this. I would complain mainly about just two bosses; the boar boss felt far too long. Once you got the hang of it, it was easy, but it took sooooo long (with a good weapon, too)! He could have done with less health. The 'freak' boss was like this too, though not as bad.
And the final boss's jumping attack was way too powerful; I died so many times when he used that attack, even though I had two thirds of my health left at the time. It was very frustrating.

Apart from that, I thought it was a very good, very fun game :p Got confused with buttons sometimes, lost some good weapons pressing D when I wanted E and died a few times 'cus I was slamming E when I wanted W; when you're being slaughtered by an army of blood-thirsty gnomes it's not a good time to be closely examining the keyboard. But that was probably more my fault than the game's.

Frostmourne and Sting. Frostmourne was in the jumping part of 3-2. It has 30 attack and slows, but is too slow to really use effectively. Sting was in the jumping part of 4-3 (maybe 4-2?); it also has 30 attack and is pretty good.

Treat him like a particular strong, yet fairly normal, enemy. Make sure to keep moving to dodge his spells and use your rages. Avoid slow weapons. Don't waste too much time attacking the dark gnomes he summons: hit both them and the mage.

ACT II: Big Pig

GNOME ON A BOAR

Remember to rage (W) and use the slingstones (A) for extra damage. Health lost can be quickly replaced by picking up a red orbs that comes from attacking the bushes. (Note that the orbs seems to depend on how many times you hit the bushes, not the damage. Therefor, using a slow weapon won't be effective.) Sprint past along the sides of the screen and past the first bush to start the battle and dodge the first attack.

The attack cycle:

When the boar is off-screen, stick to the top and bottom sides of the road and remain on the opposite side of the screen than where the beast will charge from. Use the opportunity to whack at the bushes a few times.

When the boar charges, but before you can see it on screen (this requires a minimal amount of timing), move to the opposing side of the road. The boar will charge at your previous position, missing you.

When the gnome throws a spear at you, pick it up, stand in the middle of the road, and with the right timing, throw it to stun the enemy. Grab your second weapon (if without one, keep an extra spear ready) and go berserk on the unconscious beast. Note that throwing your second weapon (D) will often do more damage than attacking (A).

When the boar recovers, run to safety at the side of the screen and start jumping. The stomp of the beast will cause a mini-earthquake that will do you damage if you are on the ground.

ACT III: Monster

FREAK

This stage is full of edible weapons (pick them up with E and eat them with A) and a tough but predictable purple monster. He can chew you up in one go, though he prefers to chop you into little slices with his butcher knives first. Otherwise he gets indigestion. ACK! He's coming towards you!

Sprint, jump, and attack the freak's freakin' freaky (and stinky) feet (right + right + space + S); this will do enough damage that the monster will pause, giving you time to mash the attack key before he leaps into the sky.

Feed him some fruit by picking up one thrown by the audience (E) and throwing it at him (D). When he pauses to munch his meal, he gives you an opportunity to pick up your weapon and attack.

Rage as soon as your rage meter is full. Temporarily invincible, you should be able to quickly get in two bouts of attack.

Throw your weapon, if you feel like it, but not until your rage meter is near full or you have some fruit at your disposal. Otherwise, there's little chance you'll get it back.

Throw rocks with the A key (or shoot him with your gun): it's a quick way to do damage and shorten the battle.

Dodge his gnashing teeth by leaping over him.

ACT IV: Royalty

GNOME KING

As far as I can tell, there's very little required here that involves the old fashioned "jump here, attack this, dodge, repeat" trickity-trick type of thing. It's rather messy. The Gnome King is like another gnome, only downright huge and upright tough. He breaths fire, shoots fireballs, causes rockslides, and whacks you. Don't get too close and come in with a decent weapon.

To deal damage, sprint around the king in circles, attacking him from behind. Alternatively, if you have a slow weapon, throw your weapon (D) from afar. After throwing your weapon, move to the far side of the room and wait for the king to saunter over. Sprint around him and quickly pick it up your weapon. Guns and stones (A) are also useful for dealing damage.

To really do some damage, use the fist strategy until the orange rage meter fills up. Temporarily invincible in rage mode (W), attack the king full on like any other enemy: mash the attack key. Make sure to make a run for it before your invincibility wears off.

To maintain optimal health, when going past the king, sprint quickly along the sides of the screen. Avoid standing still or directly in front of him. Leave the room when in need of rest, refuge from falling rocks, and the health orbs hidden within the pots.

I think the "cameo" weapons are the ones that appear randomly on those wooden towers in both of the jumping areas. If that is truly the case, then the only way to get them all is to continue playing several times.
The cameo weapns I have found:

1:Easy, you should have no problems. Also, if you take his weapon when you kill him, press A to cast a spell. Plus, you can take his head!

2:Stay along the bottom of the screen. When the screen starts to shake, move to the top, then move left/right. Exchange weapon for the spear, and stay there. When you see the boar coming for you, throw the spear, and immediately pick your weapon back up (you should be standing on it) and start slashing. For maximum damage, throw your weapon at the last second. Don't Forget to jump over the ground smash!

3:Wait for a fruit to be thrown at you, and pick it up. Throw it whan the Freak is coming for you, and start slashing. After he jumps, stay in the middle, but be ready. When he lands, dash-jump over him (you can normally jump if you have the leg strength cheat on). Wai for fruit, and repeat. When he dies, you can take his weapon, 15 damage, but be sure what weapon you want before he screen fades out.

4.Invincibility is the name of the game here. ALWAYS stay above 1/2 health. Let yourself be smashed a bit, then heal, and you should be raging in no time. When Raging, SLICE AND DICE LIKE THERE"S NO TOMORROW!!! Also, you can get a large health pick-up to be invincible for a while. Be careful to stay healed, but also be careful to not run out of supplies.

Sorry about my last post. Ignore it.

The Cameo weapons are the ones found on the wooden platforms in the acid area and the pit area. There are always one in each aera, difficulty does not change this. It is always COMPLETELY RANDOM WHICH WEAPON IT IS.
I had cheats on before, so I couldn't tell the name of the weapon or whether or not it was a cameo.
The cameos (I think) are:
Lightsaber: 30
Master Sword: slow, 40
Buster Sword: slow, 40
Frostmourne: slow, 30, freezes
black handled scimitar: 30
Kingdom Key: slow, 30 or 40, can't remember
small old-looking sword: 30
big sword: slow, 30

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